Log Horizon: Lonesome Song of A Killer Whale
by Saint Tachibana
Summary: Tachibana Makoto, swimming club captain, gets hooked into playing Elder Tale. Four years later, he becomes one of the victims of the game's newest expansion.
1. Pre-Apocalypse 1: Elder Tale

_Elder Tale_.

Makoto had only been a fan of a few video games. The games Ran and Ren played, Haru's slight obsession with the underwater version of Animal Crossing, and a few Pokemon games that the twins managed to wheedle out of their parents.

Makoto only ever bothered to play Pokemon on the off time when he _absolutely _had nothing else to do. If Haruka didn't want to come out of his house to go somewhere. If his parents were not doing anything in the house. If the twins weren't asking help from him. If his swim team didn't need him at the moment.

If all four of these coincided at the same time, it was what qualified for Makoto as "absolutely had nothing else to do."

He liked playing Pokemon because he adored the cute creatures (_monsters) _inside of the game. Going as far as to making a team roster of nothing else but adorable-looking pokemon on their pre-evolutionary stages.

But when the concept of MMORPGs finally reached the faraway town of Iwatobi, Makoto had his first brush with using the internet for anything else aside from research.

Their parents had initially bought a brand new computer because of various reasons: their dad needed to send in reports over the week through email, their mom wanted to have more access with recipes and crafts, Ran wanted to download music and chat with her friends, and Ren wanted to try the new things his classmates mentioned about MMORPGs.

Makoto thought it was a fine idea, but when they asked what he wanted to do with the computer, he told them he couldn't think of anything to do with it. Check the web for things on swimming probably?

The whole family agreed to set up the PC and internet connection inside Makoto's room, much to his slight dismay.

_"Mako-chan is a responsible boy." _Everyone agreed.

So that was why every time someone needed to use the PC, they had to go to his room.

It irked him a bit for a few weeks, but he slowly got used to having his privacy disturbed every now and then.

It was the twins who near begged and pleaded for their parents to have the game "Elder Tale" installed into the PC. Their mother and father looked apprehensive, since there was the slight issue of a monthly subscription fee with the game.

Makoto wasn't all unfamiliar with the game. Even at school, he would hear passing conversations about the game. The swimming club wasn't at all the enthused with it, however.

Haruka remarked that while he did know a few things about the game, it was general. And there were no water-borne races you can choose. And he'd rather soak in the tub instead of spending his time sitting down in front of the PC.

Rei expressed interest at first, saying the graphics and gameplay were 'beautiful'. But Gou would have his head if he didn't practice and improve his butterfly strokes. And Rei agreed with her. His performance at their first meet was less than stellar. He vowed he didn't want a repeat performance.

Makoto had expected Nagisa to have jumped the bandwagon now. He always had the impression that things like these were up Nagisa's alley. But Nagisa shook his head, saying his time with the PC in his house was limited. He had to share it with five other annoying sisters, so MMORPGs, especially Elder Tale which was rather competitive, were impossible.

And Gou was just busy enough with all the managerial duties with the swimming club, dealing with the too-enthusiastic Mikoshiba-buchou of the Samezuka swimming team for their joint practices and actually _living_ the life of a girl in her high school years.

And Makoto really didn't have plans to play the game, if not for the twins who kept inviting him to try it.

"Really, _niichan_." Ren would pout, in an attempt to sway the older boy. "The subscription fee is wasted if no one is logged into the game since Ren and me study hard in order to keep the subscription on. It would be nice if you could make your own character in the game too."

_Ren and I_. He mentally corrected his younger brother's grammar.

"It would be nice if _niichan_ was playing." Ran added, twirling her hair while sighing. "I want to make a party with _niichan _and we could go on quests and hunt for rare items. All my friend's brothers play the game, and they're helping their younger sisters in-game."

Long story short, he got roped in to start the game. He wanted to ask both of them to help him out, but they assured him the in-game tutorial is enough to help him get set up for the game.

He grumbled at that, but he begrudgingly set up an account and waited for the confirmation email.

* * *

After a long time spent on tutorials and guides, raising six levels with the NPC Tutor Major Colonel, Makoto's avatar finally arrived into the heart of Akihabara, one of the games many servers.

He had finally settled down with making a Bard of the Wolf Hair race.

He had initially made a human Summoner, hoping to find cute monsters to tame (if he was going to play this game, he wanted to do it with leisure). But the barrage of things to understand like the mechanics of magic skills, the description of contracts, the quests needed to go look for stronger spirits, and most importantly, the _severe lack of cute monsters_ made it not worth his while to continue.

After deleting his first character, he decided against blindly jumping into the game again. He took his time to learn the game outside of it. Visiting the forums to ask for help from its members, reading game FAQs from various sites, skimming over reviews in regards to classes and races, and even personality tests that recommended what class you were best suited.

He settled for being a bard. He did sing in his off-time, he chuckled at his lack of hindsight.

He enjoyed designing his avatar to uncannily look like himself, sans younger. His avatar was now wearing his harshly longer pale olive green hair (a side effect for choosing this particular race), droopy puppy dog eyes and standing at the height of when he was still in middle school.

Would be a tad creepy to have an avatar that looked like a clone of himself.

But then again, this experienced taught Makoto something about the appeal of MMORPGs.

They gave you freedom to become a new person in a whole new world that rarely followed the laws of the natural one. Going on dangerous adventures, working hard for a treasure, becoming a whole new person altogether and building new families with the people you meet along the way!

He wasn't loath to admit it, but constantly having to look over his shoulder when accompanying Haruka in case the latter would strip down to his jammers in public left little to no time for expanding his social circle outside their swimming club, classroom, and to a lesser extent; Rin and Mikoshiba-buchou of the Samezuka swimming club.

His trail of thoughts were momentarily disrupted when his avatar encountered a female NPC dressed as an officer of some sort, with blond hair wound in a tight bun and stern glasses perched on her nose.

_In order to officially recognize your registration into the city of Akihabara, please provide your name: _

Makoto smiled, as he deftly typed his name in.

"Ma-ko-to."

The NPC asked him if he was sure, and after clicking the 'Yes' button; the registration was complete and Makoto was finally free from the presence of tutorial windows.

"Ah-."

He used his **real name** on his game avatar. Makoto dropped his head, muttering "what was it about becoming a new person in a whole new world".

Still comically sighing over his lapse in thoughts, Makoto proceeded to explore the ruined streets of Akihabara.


	2. Pre-Apocalypse 2: Tachibana Makoto

Name: Makoto  
Level: 6  
Race: Wolf Fang  
Class: Bard  
HP: 550  
MP: 490

Equipment: None

* * *

Makoto was thankful he was able to do some research first before diving into the world of Elder Tales. He somewhat underestimated the vastness of the gaming environment. Akihabara, alone, one of the smaller city servers amongst the worldwide servers of the Elder Tale series, was a wide city.

It wasn't the activity or other players that made it somewhat 'big' however. Makoto realized that most of the space was more for the sheer aesthetics of it. A smaller part of the town was dedicated to the shops that were set up by the People of the Land (as the NPCs called themselves). Just beside that area players dubbed as the Marketplace, were the various inns and hotels as well as the impressive Guild Hall.

The Guild Hall was a large ornate building that was rather hard to miss given its sheer height and size. Makoto only took note of it and didn't go inside. He didn't have a guild, and nobody save for a few beginner guilds would probably take a player like him in. Besides, guilds required commitment; something which he had already given to Haruka and to the swimming club.

He was going to be a solo player through and through. Unless he encountered those so called raid dungeons or party quests that was mentioned a lot in the few FAQs he'd read a while ago.

He opened his quest window, curious with what to do first. The tutorial had told him that quests will be provided for him as his level grew, and there are quests that are tied in to either of his class, race or both. It was recommended to do those quests, especially for beginners since they were valuable sources of experience, gold, and unique items whose utility carried through till the end-game.

There were three quests, whose letters glowed a faint gold, signifying that they were recently added.

**[Combat Practice]  
[Money Matters]  
[The Kid Who Cried Crab]**

_Might as well do them in order_, Makoto thought. He clicked the first mission, which expanded its contents, explaining what Makoto had to do and what the rewards were.

* * *

**[Combat Practice]**

_Aww, so the little wolf thinks he can take on the world now, don't he? Hehehe, ain't that cute? BUT IT'S WRONG! You need a weapon before you can even think of tackling higher levelled monsters! HERE! I'll let you borrow these from my armory! Once you finish your quest, I'll give you a better version of a weapon you'll be most comfortable with! Now hop to it, maggot!_

_Major Colonel_

Weapons available for your class will be deposited in your inventory.

Use any of these weapons to defeat 3 [Rainbow Jelly] in zone [Beginner's Forest]

Upon confirming quest success, quest rewards are as follows:

50 gold  
200 exp

Select one:

[Apprentice Bard's Walking Stick]  
[Apprentice Bard's Fiddle]  
[Apprentice Bard's Bow] + [300 Arrows]  
[Apprentice Bard's Blade]

**[****Confirm****] [Cancel]**

* * *

_Looks easy enough_, Makoto mused. Checking his inventory, he did see there were four weapons deposited by the system.

[Rotting Wooden Stick] [One String Lute] [Toy Bow] [100 Arrows] [Rusty Sword]

Makoto made a face of disbelief, comparing the training weapons to the quest rewards. Nevertheless, he equipped the bow and arrows and the sword first, before trekking the short distance to the Beginner's Forest.

This was probably a quest that helped players determine what weapon they would be most comfortable while playing Elder Tale. Technically, classes can easily shift from one weapon to the next, for as long as the class allows them to equip it.

The only reason most would see in trying to specialize with one weapon was a) high level weapons are EXPENSIVE, so unless you have a lot of gold to throw, you need one reliable weapon to get you through any situation b) most skills are dependent on the equipped weapon, and while Bards do have a few offensive weapon-dependent skills, you'll need to focus on one skill and ignore the others, you can only have enough skill slots in your hotkeys c) there are some weapons that some characters' builds would revolve upon. Like a Guardian abandoning a defensive meta in favor of equipping a legendary weapon like the Soul Rending Black Dragon Slayer, turning him into a berserk killing machine that can easily rival the damage per second capability of most Assassins.

Makoto tried the bow out to kill off a stray Rainbow Jelly. The range advantage was decent, but the rate of fire was horrible. Well, it would be useful in kiting in monsters, but it wasn't a reliable source of damage. Makoto noted that he'd keep the bow for emergencies, but it wouldn't be his main weapon.

Next he used the One String Lute. Aside from the annoying twanging sound that kept looping when he attacked a Rainbow Jelly, musical instruments were actually decent. They had average damage and average attack speed, but they ignored defense (Makoto noted how the damage figures were constant) and didn't consume ammo. The sound was an issue though, Makoto put off deciding.

He found his preferences lying with the two-handed pole arm. Despite his earlier impression that [Rotting Wooden Stick] was most likely a staff, it was actually a spear type weapon. It had a significantly longer range than melee weapons and the damage was marginally higher. He was surprised when the Rainbow Jelly burst into clumps of slime with only one attack. Well, he didn't need to use the sword for this test any more.

Three Rainbow Jellies slain, and Makoto accessed the quest window to claim his reward. He selected the item [Apprentice Bard's Walking Stick] among the four weapons and received bonus experience points and gold. The sudden jump in experience prompted an announcement that notified him that he'd jumped one level up. A new quest was added, but Makoto ignored it at the moment, deciding to finish the other two quests that preceded the new one.

* * *

[Apprentice Bard's Walking Stick]

A walking stick given to apprentice bards that travel with their masters. Can be used to hit anything in order to compose a beat, monsters particularly are good targets for this weapon.

[Quality: Apprentice – adds +1 skill level to all skills]

* * *

After equipping his new weapon, he went onwards to finish the remaining two.

Money Matters was a quest to teach beginners how to buy, sell, use and deliver items from NPCs. The quest gave Makoto 30 gold with the directions of buying three potions that were at 10 gold each, selling the first one back to the NPC (he received a measly 3 gold for it), drinking the second one (recovered 50 HP!) and delivering the third one to a wounded NPC inside [Beginner's Forest].

The reward was bonus gold, experience points and the item [Apprentice Bard's Leather Tunic].

* * *

[Apprentice Bard's Leather Tunic]

A simple tunic made from cowhide. It hugs the body tightly and provides medium defense. It is interesting to note that drum skins are also made from leather.

[Quality: Apprentice – adds +1 skill level to all skills; improves HP and MP regeneration when idle]

* * *

Receiving the rewards gave Makoto access to level 8 and his first three skills were unlocked: **[Resonance Beat] [Elegant Act]** and **[Battle Conduct]**.

Resonance Beat is a Bard skill that effectively uses a one-handed weapon to deliver shockwaves inside an enemy's body. Every time an enemy receives an attack thereafter, the shockwaves reverberate inside, dealing additional damage to the enemy. The reverberation continues after a few seconds, acting like a damage-per-second debuff to the enemy.

Elegant Act is a Bard skill that utilizes the gallant moves of twirling a two-handed weapon to distract enemies while delivering damage using wide, sweeping motions. The attack damage is mediocre, but what makes this skill shine is the evasion debuff that Bards receive when using this skill. This makes it possible for Bards to fight in vanguard positions should they wish to.

Battle Conduct is a normal attack technique that does not accumulate hate points from the enemy. Hate is equivalent to aggression points, where monsters will decide to target you instead of the tank in your party. By using this skill, you can freely attack monsters without making them stick to you. This skill is useful if the Bard is responsible for luring monsters to the party, especially because once this skill is used, a distinctive whistle sound is heard which alerts party members of an incoming monster.

Makoto was using a two handed weapon, so it made sense to invest in the skill [Elegant Act]. He placed as much skill points as he could before the skill capped because of level restriction.

Dutifully equipping the armor, Makoto decided to finish the last beginner's quest before turning in for the night. It was slowly getting dark outside, he hadn't realized it because he was too absorbed in the game.

The quest The Kid Who Cried Crab directed him to an NPC (a small kid) that seemed to be crying outside of a small house. He toppled over a basket full of Ascot Crabs (lvl 4-8) that they were supposed to have for dinner. Now, they were skittering inside the house, and he was too scared to go back in. The quest required that he defeat the Ascot Crabs, obtain the items x5 [Ascot Crab], and report back to the NPC.

His avatar was immediately teleported inside the house, alerting the Ascot Crabs of his presence. They were tough monsters with high defense, but low intelligence. Makoto was thankful for the timely introduction of the battle skills. The crabs' damage was thrice as strong as the Rainbow Jellies, but they rarely hit thanks to the evasion buff provided by [Elegant Act].

He defeated all five of them in no time; his HP and MP were immediately refilled thanks to having gained a level up (lvl 9) from fighting the crabs. As he collected the last [Ascot Crab] item from the floor, the game teleported him back to the NPC, who received the items with scripted happiness.

The reward was bonus gold, experience points, [Apprentice Bard's Reed Whistle] and the item [Rainbow Crab Shell].

* * *

[Apprentice Bard's Reed Whistle]

A simple reed whistle that is strung on a necklace. Bards use this item in order to check their voices against the whistle's natural pitch. An indispensable item useful for beginning singers.

[Quality: Apprentice - – adds +1 skill level to all skills; improves HP and MP regeneration when idle; increases exp points received from monsters and quest rewards by 10%; increases sub class exp points received from monsters and quest rewards]

* * *

[Rainbow Crab Shell]

A crab shell lined with nacre, the same substance that constitutes pearls. Gazing into the hued surface will give you insight into the future, but the shell will break upon doing its job.

Consume to activate the Quest [Full Time Jobs]

* * *

The resulting bonus experience points propelled his level to 10. Something new was highlighted in his Skills Tab, as well as the Quest Tabs.

Makoto cracked his back , as he stretched in his seat. Satisfied with the progress he had done today, he pressed the [Escape] button, logged out, and went downstairs to help whatever chores were needed to be done.


	3. Pre-Apocalypse 3: Herbalist

The Pre-Apocalypse series is like a set of introductory lore. Boring, but needed so that we don't have to gloss over the small details when the main story is introduced. The anime and light novel is already doing a good job of it.

* * *

Name: Makoto  
Level: 16/30  
Race: Wolf Fang  
Class: Bard/Herbalist  
HP: 1356  
MP: 1481

Equipment:

[Limb of Grandmother Willow]

- A high quality item for beginners. Obtained as a reward for helping an old willow find her granddaughter. Grooves are etched in the wood, producing a whistling sound when the weapon is swung.

[Urban Style Ensemble]

- A set of casual clothes that were modeled from relics said to have existed during the Era of Gods. The fabric promotes ease of movement, and allows the skin to breathe. Also stylish and chic, ironically. Provides medium defense.

[Gloves of Gardener]

- Gloves made from treated animal leather. Picking herbs using these gloves help preserve their potency longer than without. Slightly increases success rate of harvesting herbs by 5%.

* * *

Haruka raised an eyebrow as Makoto was, for the first time, quiet during their walks.

The taller boy, as is their morning ritual, had waited for him outside their house. Makoto had offered a small 'good morning' to which he nodded. When they had reached the main street that led them directly to their school, Haruka was ready to tone out Makoto, who usually began talking about mundane things around them, like what he had for dinner, what Nagisa and Rei were up to, and how Haruka can't swim in the ocean right now, because it was still spring, and Makoto didn't want to deal with Haruka suffering a close brush with pneumonia. Again.

He waited for it. A few minutes ticked by. Haruka could only hear the ocean breeze whispering in his ears, and the waves crashing on the shore from a distance.

Glorious silence. Appreciated but not requested.

He slid a curious glance towards Makoto, and found out why.

Makoto was seemingly engrossed with something on his phone. It would be a text message, no, Haruka mused. It had been a good five minutes, and he was still reading.

"What are you reading?" Haruka, couldn't believe himself, broke the silence between the two.

"Ah. Haru-chan, sorry!" Makoto raised a hand in a gesture of placation, clumsily apologizing as he did so. "I'm reading a tutorial."

Haruka raised an eyebrow. Makoto was an above average student, if not for a slight issue with English. The language was probably the only thing their former teammate, Rin, could hold above their heads.

"Having trouble with English?" Haruka asked, then frowned. "And drop the –chan."

"Mmhm." Makoto shook his head, hastily closing whatever he was reading and put his phone away. "It was a game guide."

There was a twitch in Haruka's eyebrow.

"Was it that Eruderu…thing you mentioned last time?"

"Elder Tale." Makoto repeated the name, though his English was a tad more impeccable now, compared to a week ago before he began playing.

"Erudaa Tee-iru…" Haruka frowned, trying to repeat the way Makoto had said the title more fluently.

"Maa…" Makoto chuckled, amused at the frustration in Haruka's face. "…you'll get it sooner or later."

* * *

It had taken Makoto only a few days to find the best levelling spots, as well as gaining access to quests that offered high returns over time and resources.

While he did choose getting the Herbalist subclass on the spur of a moment, he hadn't ended up regretting it, especially when grinding heavily on field-type maps.

The Herbalist sub class dealt with being able to identify herb patches in fields and dungeons, harvesting them (success rate depended on the herb's rarity, herbalist sub class level, and any items that may contribute to the success rate), and processing them (this one was apparently a skill that was available to only high level Herbalists).

Herbalists aren't a popular subclass, given the herb items were at best mediocre on first glance.

Herbs are a category of items considered volatile. While they did not explode, they tend to lose potency after twelve hours of game time (roughly two hours in the real world). A freshly harvested [Herb of Healing] would heal 100hp if consumed after picking. Every hour in Elder Tale, it loses 8 points of healing efficiency. Once it is not consumed by the twelfth hour, it becomes [Dry Leaf]; a trash item.

There are various ways of increasing the potency of herbs. Herbalists can create various [Poultice] by mixing herbs of different combinations. While the shelf life is not improved, it dramatically increases the recovery effect. Three [Herb of Healing] would heal 3 x 100HP, but if converted into a [Healing Poultice], they could heal 500HP if immediately used.

Another way is through **[Create Spice]**. Herbs can be converted into ingredient-type items called Spices. Herbs can be converted into their corresponding spice, like [Herb of Thawing] into [Powdered Red Chili] or [Herb of Speech] into [Ground Black Pepper]. The resulting ingredient items have no time limit, so they can be sold to other players.

Though, there is no market for player-created spices, given that there is a Spice Merchant NPC that has a complete list of spices to sell.

Because of this, the job Herbalist is not truly considered a Production subclass given the short shelf-life of most of its items.

Its unpopularity also stems from the fact that its utility loses function as you progress through levels. 100HP healing is rather measly if you have more than 10000HP.

But between shuffling through doing mid-level quests and grinding levels on Briar Weasels, being able to heal clumps of HP and MP while taking a break helped Makoto gain levels fast.

Using potions to recover HP and MP whether during battle or after is expensive. The potions weigh a bit as well, so it was a balance of consuming potions unnecessarily or leaving behind loot that you could possibly sell for more gold.

Because herb freely grew around the fields, Makoto could easily identify, gather and consume herbs to aid in the regeneration of his HP and MP. Rare status-healing herbs that can counter poison, paralyze or silence are also useful, even if used during the last hour. They functioned differently from HP and MP herbs; their healing potency is not affected over time since they didn't depend on numbers.

Makoto would have thought that they should have a chance of failing to heal status effects if not in their potency range, but if the game company ignored this petty detail, he wasn't up to complaining.

This rinse-and-repeat process not only gained him a few good levels with his class, but most especially with his sub-class. There were several spots in the field that had away-from-keyboard leveling spots for herbalists termed as "herb nodes", mainly [Dry Bush] and [Suspicious-Looking Bush]. While Makoto ate dinner with his family, did his chores or his assignments; his avatar was continuously earning sub-class experience. It wasn't a surprise then that his sub-class leveled faster than his main class.

At level 0, the Herbalist obtains the **[Identify Herbs]** and **[Gather Herbs]** skill by default. The only class that is known to have this same set of skills is the _[Harvester]_ but at a higher prerequisite level. **[Identify Herbs]** is a passive skill that allows Herbalists to interact with bushes and clusters. Bushes are static objects that react to the skill and allow harvesting of herbs. Clusters are the same, but are available only inside the dungeon, and mainly produce [Mushroom] items.

The active skill **[Gather Herbs]** has a continuous cast time of 5 seconds default, and 0 seconds cool down; it costs 0 MP to cast. As long as there is something to harvest, the skill will continue recasting itself until the game recognizes that the node is empty. By using **[Gather Herbs]** on herb nodes, a random type and quantity of herb or mushroom is harvested. It is interesting to note that the level of these skills depend upon your Herbalist's level. There are bushes and clusters that require higher skill levels to identify and gather from. High level herb nodes do not react to the **[Identify Herbs]** skill of low-level Herbalists, so there is no way for lowbies to interact and harvest from them.

At level 10, the passive skill **[Green Thumb]** is unlocked. This skill increases the efficiency of herbs by 50%, letting the Herbalist recover more HP or MP when consuming herb-type items.

At level 20, the active skill **[Praec]** is unlocked. This allows the Herbalist to use herb-type items on their party members. The passive skill [**Green Thumb]** affects any healing that is done by this skill. It is a short ranged skill with a long cooldown time of 30 seconds however, so it is not at all that efficient during battles.

At level 30, the passive skill **[Apprenticeship]** is unlocked, giving the Herbalists an increased boost to harvesting speed and success rate.

With this setup, Makoto was able to fully maximize his time in gaining experience while cutting down time for breaks in between battles in order to regenerate. The lack of need to consume or carry potions also made sure that Makoto was able to carry all possible loot and sell it for a good price. With his gold saved, he could buy enough reliable mid-level gear in order to prepare himself for the first party dungeon quest when he hits level 24.

* * *

Author's Notes:

The Herbalist, technically, isn't a production sub-class. And Makoto isn't reaaaaally a plant guy in canon (he's more of an anything-cute type of guy). I got asked why he chose Wolf Fang and why he's an herbalist. Personal reasons: The bard is a physical-oriented class, and I wanted his avatar to have all advantages possible. Also, it would be hard to see his face if he was a were-cat. Makoto reasons: He wants to maximize his game time since swimming comes first. He can't compromise so he's also taking all the advantage he can get.

As for being an herbalist, personal reasons: I'm anachronistic. I always regard apothecaries as curious and awesome places. Makoto reasons: it's convenient for him in the short run. He's not expecting to make a full-time career out of playing Elder Tale.


	4. Pre-Apocalypse 4: Dungeons

Name: Makoto  
Level: 42/68  
Race: Wolf Fang  
Class: Bard/Herbalist  
HP: 3662  
MP: 3665

Equipment

[Whale Bone Harpoon] – An uncommon weapon obtained from the boss of the field campaign "Moby Dick". Whale Bone boasts of high durability and increases water resistance of equipment made from this material. Harpoon-type weapons increase damage against water-type and fish-type enemies and reduces damage received from them.

[Tough Studded Gambeson] – Production class item. A poor man's equivalent to the Warrior Class' full plate, but provides excellent defense for a leather armor. The 'Tough' prefix provides an additional 500HP to the wearer.

[Gaudy Ghost Wraps] – Clothing that wraps around the arms and legs of the wearer. Light as air and provides no defense, it greatly increases the wearer's evasion and parry rate. Has a low chance of making the user fail an attack, however.

* * *

Makoto's avatar was busy foraging for herbs in a nearby dry bush. He was currently in the desert zone [Al'Quimiya], which was a few ways away from any major city (the closest one was the city of Minami).

The reason for his presence here was to complete the party raid quest "Relic of Esgramor". The quest involved traversing the desert (full of random spawning monsters) into the Dasman Oasis. The oasis, a small field dungeon full of greenery supported by a desert lake, held the entrance to the raid dungeon "Dasman Cairn".

Makoto had always finished party quests alone (he circumvented the party-only rule by making a party of only himself, thus bypassing the game's need for him to have party mates), but he was mildly surprised when he was denied entrance to the dungeon only to find out that the dungeon needed a party of 2-3 members in order to gain access.

He had reasoned that there might be other people who will do the quest, so he patiently waited for any party to appear and will ask them if he could join them.

He had been killing monsters earlier before gaining his current level, had grown bored and decided to leave his character AFK on a bush in order to raise his herbalist level. He was busy chatting with the new swimming captain of the Iwatobi Swimming Club on his mobile phone, issues pertaining to setting up schedules and qualifying for meets and contests.

It had been a year already since he started playing the game casually. The twins had, unsurprisingly, gotten bored of the demanding requirements of the game and had readily dropped it in a heartbeat, like a hot potato. Makoto wanted to scold them over their wishy washy attitude in regards to getting a pay-to-play game only to abandon it after a few months, but the twins countered that Makoto was fully enjoying it anyway; so it was a good thing their big brother had something else to occupy his time instead of just swimming.

Makoto was in his third year of senior middle school. Iwatobi Middle School didn't allow third years to attend any extra co-curricular activities as a rule (not like that stopped his friend Haruka from swimming. It just meant that he could no longer participate in official events. Makoto, too, was banned from swimming events but he often dropped by to observe and sometimes help the new members.)

Rei had been made the new captain of the swimming club by Makoto himself (along with Haruka's blessing, and Nagisa's pestering). The butterfly swimmer had reasonably argued that just one year ago, he was the odd man in the group who slowed down everyone during the medley relay; but Makoto reassured him that he also proved himself when he got second place in the butterfly swimming events during the latest town meet. Nobody could boast an achievement in terms of growth rate when it comes to swimming except Rei.

Ego considerably inflated, Rei had accepted the position with no more complaints and was making plans on getting new members for the club, muttering something about "theories" and "beautiful". Nagisa was made the unreliable vice-captain whose job was to keep Rei in check.

Makoto's grades have not suffered one bit, thanks to keeping his priorities straight during exams. If not, his sole weakness in English was remedied thanks to his exposure to Elder Tale.

The MMORPG catered to a global market. A Japanese person who wanted to visit other game servers in another country can readily do so by simply choosing to travel to that server's starting city. This was what set Elder Tale apart from the usual MMORPG, being able to move characters across servers with little to no hassle or special permission from the gaming company.

Makoto had several friends on his Friend List that were foreigners. They, of course, knew how to speak Japanese (some would solely learn the language in theory and use it in practice when visiting the Japanese servers). Makoto enjoyed partying with them, amused at the foreign accent they often inflected with their speech via voice chat.

But because of this, Makoto also did his best to learn the English language. His _gaijin_ friends helped him (with a little teasing every time Makoto screwed up on his semantics or pronunciation). Learning was fun if it was with your friends, and Makoto easily absorbed every lesson they gave him; and they did the same with Makoto's instructions in Japanese.

It was also around this time when Makoto was experiencing a crisis in his teenage life.

Thanks to the last regional swimming event, the group had managed to salvage their relationship with their estranged friend, Matsuoka Rin. Needless to say, Rin and Haru began hanging out more often.

"More often" meant all the time. It was almost every weekend that Rin was knocking on Haru's door early in the morning to challenge him to another swimming thing, and Haru already had his bag with him and ready to go.

It was worse during summer vacation because Rin had decidedly moved into Haru's house (because the Samezuka dorms were closed during summers), and while Makoto was glad he would be there to keep an eye on the other boy, Rin wasn't as level-headed as Makoto was when it came to impulsive swimming.

Makoto's routine was now broken.

He would often wake up to go to Haru's house to bring his usual weekend food from his mom, knock, and find out that there was no one there. They had probably left as early as five in the morning.

Makoto returned to his house, forlorn, apologizing to his mother because Haru wasn't there to eat the food (his mother was fine with it, he guessed) and with nothing else to do, Makoto would usually just lie in bed and attempt to get some more sleep.

During their school mornings, Makoto and Haruka still walked together. But there was something between them now. Like an intangible wall that was slowly driving them apart.

Makoto rarely talked now, if anything else during their walks. Haruka often was kept busy on his cellphone, talking to Rin (as if they haven't been together 48 hours during the weekends) or if not, he was staring at the ocean.

Pointedly not at Makoto.

He was troubled as to why they were starting to drift apart. Why their limited interactions with one another were somewhat cold and professional. Weren't they childhood friends?

But then again, Makoto realized that there was also something wrong with him. Apart from friends met because of swimming, he had no one to call friends of his own (that wasn't related to swimming). He has a professional relationship with Samezuka's swimming team captain Mikoshiba Seijuurou (who graduated from Samezuka and had moved to Tokyo to attend at Y University); thankfully, it wasn't swimming related but more of careers and contacts.

Haruka didn't need Makoto anymore to take care of him. Rin was there. The swimming team was there. Haruka was now coming out of his shell. He had grown up without Makoto realizing it.

Makoto was expendable. And Haruka did little to nothing in order to make Makoto feel otherwise.

Makoto found himself engaging more and more of his time into the game, if only to escape this gnawing realization. If only to disregard those accusing thoughts that plagued him.

* * *

"Hello?"

Makoto was startled awake from his musing, when a hesitant voice whispered into his ears via his headset. He had long finished his talk with Rei, and was just staring at the computer screen, not really focusing on anything.

Someone had added him into their Friend List and used Telepathy to allow voice chatting. Normally, strangers wouldn't do this kind of thing since it was inconvenient, opting to just type what they wanted to say (along with the benefit of gender anonymity, most guys used female avatars and vice-versa).

"Hello." Makoto answered back, eyes slowly starting to focus on his computer screen. There was a mage-class character and a heavily armored character (a Guardian, no doubt) that was sitting down beside his AFK avatar. They were probably waiting for him to respond.

"Oh, nice. You're not AFK." The voice had a calm, relieved tone. It was a guy's voice, and Makoto mused was probably in his age group. "Are you waiting for your party for the dungeon?"

"Ahaha~ No, I don't have a party unfortunately." Makoto's avatar let out a shaky laughing emoticon. "But I do need to finish this quest inside, and I was waiting for a party that would take me with them."

"That's good to hear." The other person replied. "Me and Naotsugu, my partner, was just about to go inside and then we saw you. We figured you probably would like to join us in this quest."

The sound for a new telepathy connection dinged and a loud voice greeted him.

"OSU! I'm Naotsugu and I'm going to be the toughest Guardian ever! The nasty eyeglasses man beside me is Shiroe! He's an Enchanter which we don't get very often! But that's okay, because he's just smart and weird at the same time!"

Makoto was surprised at first with the rather boisterous greeting but then he laughed, all the while "Shiroe" scolding "Naotsugu" for a rather brutish introduction.

"Hello, Naotsugu-san, Shiroe-san. I'm Makoto, a Wolf Fang Bard. I started as a casual player, but because of…well, I intend to be a full time player now that I have time. I hope you'll let me join your party."

"Mou, Mako is so polite." Naotsugu whined on his end. Makoto could hear a pout coming from him. "You're probably a straight A student like Shiroe is."

Makoto received a party invitation, to which he accepted.

"Don't mind Naotsugu, Makoto-san." Shiroe replied, his avatar sending a pointed glare at the Guardian. "It's nice to meet polite people once in a while."

Makoto felt light at the sincere tone Shiroe used. "You can call me Makoto, Shiroe-san."

A chuckle was heard from the other line. "Then call me Shiroe. And you call Naotsugu as Naotsugu. No need to put anything on his name."

Naotsugu protested at Shiroe's haughtiness, but he agreed with what he said. Being comfortable with each other, after all, was the basis of a successful party and a successful party run.

"Oh?" Shiroe was surprised. "Naotsugu, look! Makoto is a Bard."

Naotsugu had just noticed the music-themed icon preceeding Makoto's name. He whistled on his microphone. "Makoto's gonna be a hardcore player eh? Just like Shiroe!"

"E-eh?" Makoto was surprised as to how Naotsugu arrived at that conclusion. "I…I don't know."

Shiroe coughed a bit, hiding a laugh on his end. "Did Makoto consider the class that he was going to play in Elder Tale?"

"Uhm…I wanted to become a Summoner originally, but it was too complicated for me." He laughed weakly. "But then, I saw this class and I thought that I like singing so why not give it a try? I've enjoyed raising my character then. The damage is not too high, and the survivability rate is so-so. But the rate of levelling is just right for a casual player like me. Well, "was" anyway. I'll have to start raising him faster since I heard they're going to raise the level cap from 60 to 70?"

"That's right. There's a new patch next week that will include flying creatures. I expect we'll have dragons, wyverns and giant eagles to deal with."

Naotsugu butted in, finding the whole conversation boring.

"Ne, ne Makoto! You're a panties guy right?"

Makoto let out an indignant squawk into the microphone, while Shiroe's avatar calmly used **[Disoriented Tongue]** on Naotsugu's avatar, effectively silencing him. The spell dealt no damage, but it could silence an enemy for 15 seconds. The status [Silence] not only prevented characters from casting skills or spells; it also muted the character from chatting or speaking on voice chat.

"Seriously." Shiroe huffed, exasperated. "Please don't mind him, Makoto. Naotsugu is a self-proclaimed Warrior of Panties, so he often asks that to any guy we meet."

"…Naotsugu is an interesting guy. Shiroe, too!" There was a soft chuckle that came from Makoto.

"Well then." Shiroe's avatar sat down, a gesture of invitation for the bard and the currently-mute Guardian to also sit down. "Let's discuss the strategies we'll use while inside the dungeon."

* * *

**[Inside Dasman Cairn]**

"Everyone ready?" Shiroe confirmed their plan to Makoto and Naotsugu.

"Ready!" Both players confirmed, as they proceeded to enter the dungeon which was a dusty, sand-filled barrow. Makoto took lead, as he was the fleetest of foot between the three, being a weapon-class user. Bards also made effective scouts, second only to Monk and third to Assassin; as they had access to ranged weapons and aggression-removal skills.

"I'll go on ahead and draw some Droggrs and Wights." Makoto sprinted forward, not waiting for a reply. It was already in Shiroe's plans anyway, he was just confirming his actions.

Three rooms forward and Makoto had his first encounter with a group of undead, a Droggr and 2 Zombie Archers. Droggrs were the undead equivalent of guardians, though they wielded two-handed swords instead. They boasted high HP and high attack, but had little accuracy and movement speed.

It was the Zombie Archers that could spell trouble, however. They were ranged undead creatures, wielding bows and arrows. Though their HP is low, their attack and critical rate is pretty high.

_Not a problem. _Makoto thought. Normally, he'd avoid such a mob of enemies. But he had a party now, people he could depend on and people who depended on his abilities as well.

Setting his harpoon back in the inventory, he equipped a generic bow and nocked an arrow, setting his sights on the Droggr.

"**[Battle Conduct!]"** The arrow was shot, effectively embedding itself into the Droggr's leathery head. As soon as the arrow had hit, a loud whistling sound was heard and a large [!] exclamation point appeared on top of the Droggr's head.

**[Battle Conduct]** is an attack technique learned by Bards at low levels. While the damage is only that of a regular attack, it is a type of attack that incurs no hate from the enemy. This makes it easier for tanks to draw away lured enemies from the Bard. The large exclamation point, though only for aesthetics, is also useful when marking enemies that might provide the largest threat, or has a higher kill priority. The whistling sound is a sound that only exists within the range of player hearing frequencies. Scouts who use telepathy or chat in the keyboard are automatically detected by nearby enemies (because it is the same as talking while an enemy is lurking by), so the whistling sound is an invaluable signal for the party members to detect whether their scout has made contact and in which direction.

The archers remained oblivious to the attack on their mob, though the Droggr's attention was shifted towards Makoto.

Makoto's avatar moved back a bit into the door, reequipping the Harpoon, whilst Naotsugu burst into the scene with an excited grin as his avatar jumped into the now-stirring fray. He had heard the whistling sound and had immediately dashed forward, followed by a trailing Shiroe.

He sent a quick taunt to the Droggr that trailed towards Makoto, who immediately set his attention on Naotsugu instead; while the Guardian ran into the space between the two Zombie Archers.

"**[ANCHOR HOWL!]**" A large wave of energy washed over the three enemies, who focused their attacks on the guardian.

**[Anchor Howl]** is a Guardian class skill, the "trademark skill" of all guardians. It is this skill that helps Guardians keep their parties alive, by drawing all enemy hate towards themselves. In this way, the Guardian's allies are free to deal damage against the enemies without drawing attention towards themselves, as most damage dealing classes are frail in terms of HP and defense.

Makoto took it as the cue to run towards Naotsugu's side and cast –

"**[Duet!]"** He gripped his Harpoon, as a bright green light engulfed him and Naotsugu. The Duet buff icon appeared on their screens signifying the activation of the skill.

**[Duet]** is a class skill that enables Bards to provide extra firepower to an attacking ally. The Bard is able to mimic the attack dealt, ignoring weapon requirements and penalties of that attack. The attack power is considerably lower, but increased damage is secured. The higher the ally's attack, the higher Duet's auto attack will be.

Makoto's attention shifted to a skill button in his screen, blinking ready. "Activation is ready, Shiroe-san!"

"Do it!" Shiroe's voice pierced through the moans of their enemies.

"**[Eternal Song: Etude Sword Speed!][Curse Song: Ballad of the Lazy Snail!**]" Makoto's songs finally activated, a plethora of multi-colored notes erupted from the duo.

**[Eternal Song: Etude Sword Speed]** is one of the songs in the Eternal Song series aimed at strengthening the Bard's allies. The party buff improves all allies' accuracy and attack speed, subsequently increasing critical hit rate, parry rate for two-handed users and blocking rate for shield users.

Shiroe pointed his staff at the Droggr, skill ready at the tap of a finger.

"**[Psychic Wave!]"** He directed a heavy pulse of mental energy towards the lumbering zombie warrior, who was immediately dragged a distance away from Naotsugu and Makoto's circle of range.

**[Psychic Wave]** is an Enchanter class skill that deals miniscule damage, but pushes back enemies away by a number of cells (or units of distance) depending on the skills' level. It's a risky skill to use in actual party play, given that the hate generation of this skill is amazingly high. It is used more when the Enchanter is escaping to avoid pursuing foes.

The Droggr, which screeched at Shiroe, was sent skidding at the back of the two Zombie Archers, who clumsily were still trying to nock their arrows as if they were in quicksand. The Draugr stopped however, when the figure of Naotsugu's avatar loomed over it menacingly.

"If an enemy attempts to escape the range of Anchor Howl…" Shiroe mumbled quietly, a small smile on his face.

"Anchor Howl will deal a heavy counter attack on the enemy!" Naotsugu finished, sending a critical heavy slash down the unsuspecting Droggr's back, effectively bringing the tanky zombie's HP down to 25% in the red zone. The counterattack was strengthened more due to Etude Sword Speed's effect.

"And Ballad of the Lazy Snail will spread that damage towards enemies near that target." Makoto felt his weapon glow blackish-red, as a dark wave of energy burst from the Droggr and slammed towards the two Zombie Archers, bringing their HP down to 10%. It momentarily glowed green again, signifying that something had activated.

"Lucky! Duet activates an auto attack!" Makoto swung his harpoon down, dealing fatal damage to the Droggr. The Droggr's HP hit 0, causing the walking corpse to burst into a pile of gold and items on the floor.

"Makoto!" Naotsugu shifted, swinging his sword inward. His attack finished off one of the two zombie archers.

"Osu!" Makoto swung his harpoon down to cut through the remaining zombie archer, which burst into money and several miscellaneous items.

The fight had ended as quickly as it had begun.

"As expected of Black Heart Glasses Shiroe!" Naotsugu snickered, admiring their teamwork earlier. "Your battle coordination skills are terrifying."

Shiroe shifted his glasses, hiding a slight blush. "We can effectively wipe out mobs of 5-6 enemies thanks to Makoto's Ballad of the Lazy Snail. As expected, fighting same levelled enemies is much harder. I'll have to supply **[Keen Edge]** on you, Naotsugu, in the event when we'll have an all Droggr fight."

**[Keen Edge]** is an Enchanter skill that dramatically raises the weapon attack power of an ally for a short time. Not effective to recast every time since it consumes a generous amount of MP versus its duration, but the damage bonus is useful during critical moments when you cannot afford to let the boss survive because it had 1% HP remaining.

"Makoto, it was a good idea for you to have joined us. You are effectively going to cut down our time running dungeons like these. It would have taken us three minutes more if we did this without you." Shiroe offered his compliments, of which Makoto stuttered in their voice chat.

Both Naotsugu and Shiroe snickered at Makoto's modesty, but thanks to having known the bard, they can now effectively start farming for materials only found in dungeons with less resources used and less time consumed. It was the first time Makoto was able to have free access to rare production items, thanks to Shiroe and Naotsugu's generosity as well.

* * *

A/N: This is going to be revised once Chapter 6 is up. Outdated data in here.


	5. Pre-Apocalypse 5: Eve of Noosphere

Name: Makoto  
Level: 72/86  
Race: Wolf Fang  
Class: Bard/Herbalist  
HP: 6929  
MP: 7517

Equipment

[Ba Gua Ritual Spear] – A special Bard class two-handed polearm item. Obtained by finishing the field boss quest [Star Crossed Lovers] and crafting [Ba Gua Spear Point] and [Ba Gua Spear Hilt] given by Munak and Bongun NPC respectively. Increases polearm attack damage and martial unarmed attack damage of wielder and party members.

[Star Crossed Lovers] quest is a local-only quest that is available in the Korean servers.

[Concert Master's Ensemble] – A well-crafted coat from the days of the music maestro of old. A heavy blue coat over a simple white button-up shirt, a pristine white cravat and leather pants make for a handsome gentleman. Improves the range and effect of a Bard's beneficial songs but lacks defense.

[Song Sheet Portfolio] – A collection of song sheets bound within a leather binder. Useful if you forgot the notes of any particular song. It improves song effects by a percentage.

* * *

**[Tokyo]**

Two years have passed. Relationship strained far past for fixing, Makoto had left Iwatobi with only the well wishes of his family and close confidante to keep him comfortable.

Makoto hadn't told anyone else about his plans of going to Tokyo in order to study and become a veterinarian. The only person outside the family that knew Makoto was leaving was Ryugazaki Rei, and it was only because Makoto knew that Rei was very discreet when it came to secrets. Nagisa was rather _open_, and he dared not tell the bubbly youth regarding anything.

Rin and Haruka. Well. It was fun while it lasted.

On the day that he left for Tokyo, his family and Rei were at the train station to bid him farewell. A few short hugs, and an apology to Rei for burdening him with this secret; he rode the train that would carry him to Tokyo.

A few hours later, a haggard Makoto walked out of the Tokyo Station, greeted by the too-enthusiastic former captain of the Samezuka Swim Club; Mikoshiba Seijuurou.

The older of the two had offered Makoto to room with him in an apartment that was close to Seijuurou's, and now Makoto's, Y University.

Seijuurou had thought it well enough that he could get a polite junior like Makoto, instead of a stranger, to room with him. The costs in Tokyo were over-the-top compared to Iwatobi. Halving the rent costs with Makoto could definitely save him a few thousand yens.

Makoto was pleasantly surprised at the quaint apartment where he would be staying. It was modest-looking, managed by an elderly lady that often gives free food to the tenants whenever she cooks too much (that in itself is a common event).

Seijuurou's room, soon to be his as well, was very neat and warm. There were two beds, one for him and one for Makoto. Computers with internet connection (!) were lined up on one side of the room for use. Two worktables were on the other side, one with a neat stack of books and magazines. There was also a cabinet and drawers for various things you can place into them.

After securing everything, being introduced to the neighboring rooms and to the landlady herself, Makoto had asked about the computers and the internet connection. Seijuurou shrugged, they can do whatever they want. Just, not anything that can be traced back to them or introduce viruses and malware.

Half of the afternoon and part of the evening was spent on installing _Elder Tales_. Patching the game didn't take too long, thanks to the updated game installer.

After taking a bath, eating dinner, and making sure that he had no chores left to do in regards to their room, Makoto played.

* * *

**[Akihabara]**

A lot had happened within the past two years.

Cosmetic-wise, Makoto had bought a potion to let him change his characters age and height. He hadn't seen the need to bother how his character looked back then when he was still playing solo. But playing with Shiroe and his party required using voice chats, and it was very awkward to have Makoto's deep voice coming out of a twelve year old-looking adventurer.

His avatar now truly reflected his age, Makoto was thankful for the lack of awkwardness by then. Shiroe, upon seeing his avatar, briefly expressed his amusement and chuckled. Naotsugu just laughed in his mic, as he always did when something tickled his mirth.

Dealing with Naotsugu and Shiroe on an almost day-to-day basis helped him develop ties with the Debauchery Tea Party; an upcoming non-guild party that grew in popularity due to their ability to handle raids oft impossible for a party their size.

They were a ragtag group of people that didn't bother with guild politics and whatever things that had made the game dark over the years. They were there to return the joy of doing quests, travelling and just having fun with the people around them.

Makoto could easily distinguish each member of the Debauchery Tea Party due to their quirky personalities. There were 27 members all in all, but the ones who he had encountered the most were whose names he could remember.

Shiroe and Naotsugu, his constant companions when playing. The first people to greet him when he logs on, and the first people he greets when they log on. How the somewhat taciturn Shiroe and loud Naotsugu were friends in real life, Makoto would never know.

Chief Nyanta, a werecat swashbuckler that was the defunct 'papa' of everyone due to his deep and soothing voice. He had this adorable habit of adding '-nya~' to his sentences; and while Shiroe explained that the Chief was a hardcore cat roleplayer, Makoto's cat fetish was truly tickled so much that he embarrassed himself one day by offering the Chief to rub his fur. Nyanta took it in stride, saying that he'll have Makoto keep to his promise someday.

Soujirou and Nazuna, samurai and kan'nagi respectively. Makoto would deduce that Soujirou would probably be somewhere below 18 years old, given how he called everyone his senior. Naotsugu somehow gets annoyed at him though, given Soujirou's amazing luck with the opposite gender. Nazuna, meanwhile, she emits the air of a mature_ oneesan._ If not a bit laidback, though she likes to hang around Soujirou as an older sister would to their younger brother. During raids, however, she exhibits a side of being a fierce barrier specialist, enabling her to accurately gauge where and who to put her barriers and who to heal.

Kazuhiko and K.R, assassin and summoner. Kanami and Kuina, swashbuckler and sorcerer. There were others who were fleeting members, ones Makoto only partied once or twice due to conflicting schedules. Gorouhachirou, Hayato, Aihie, Touri, a fellow bard named Whistler (known for mastering his Battle Conduct skill, hence the nickname), Gingami, a Wolf Fang Druid and others he could not remember anymore.

Makoto was the unofficial (read: unrecognized due to the short time he spent with the party) 28th member of the Debauchery Tea Party.

Due to Makoto's school schedules and tense situation with Haruka, and by extension Rin; he wasn't free enough to always join the raid during most of their legendary runs. Makoto remembered feeling forlorn when he missed doing the [Hades' Breath] raid on the Fields of Death. Everyone had a Griffon Flute. He had none. It was the first time he felt frustrated in-game.

A few months later, he did get his own unique mount by winning a screenshot event hosted in the Elder Tales official forum. The screenshot that won was of the Tea Party executing brilliant tactical motions (mostly Shiroe's lead) during the [Tree of Life] raid. The Tea Party didn't mind the screenshot and even congratulated him for winning the mount. Naotsugu teased him that he could finally keep up with them.

The unique mount was **[Lunatic Dire Wolf]**, a unique mount based on **[Dire Wolf]** mount that was only available in the Chinese servers. International legalities made the Japanese server change the name and skin of the original Dire Wolf Mount. This Dire Wolf had black fur and glowing blue runes on its body. Though unable to fly, they were able to run at the same speed as that of the Griffons (three times faster than the normal horse). Terrain obstacles were also not a problem for the Lunatic Dire Wolf, as it could easily run through thick brush, swampy forests, and scale mountain sides without losing speed. The only terrain that slowed the Dire Wolf down was when it swam in the water.

Makoto had easily lost his feelings of despair during his time with the Tea Party. Shiroe, who orchestrated battles with precision and grace. Naotsugu, who withstood the assault of enemies as a reliable pillar of the Tea Party. Kanami, who led everyone as vanguard to both raids and to new adventures. Soujirou, stalwart damage dealer and natural born lady killer. Nyanta, dapper cat gentleman that wore down enemies with lightning fast strokes. Kazuhiko, who inflicted the most grievous damage. K.R. who performed a multitude of roles during the raid thanks to his summon's versatility. Nazuna, who negated damage worked well with Shiroe to keep everyone alive.

And Makoto, who slowly grew in-game, as a reliable damage dealer and secondary support character thanks to his Eternal Song Series.

However, two years after he had met the Party, it was around the time when Kanami had announced that she would be leaving the game for real-life issues that the party started to fall apart. Raids were less frequent, interactions between party members were short and conserved. The party started to slowly die.

Naotsugu soon followed suit. He was at least two years older than Makoto and Shiroe. Real life had taken a toll on his time in Elder Tales, and the last that was heard from him was that he was going to start a job in a company. Shiroe understood the situation, but it didn't make the bitter feelings inside him hurt less.

Makoto found it awkward to stay with Shiroe, given that he wasn't Naotsugu (who Makoto knew was the only person Shiroe would implicitly trust).

He already had a falling out with his childhood friend. He knew the feeling.

"Shiroe…if you need someone to talk to…just call me via telepathy, ne?" Makoto remembered saying these words.

"Thanks Makoto. I…I just need a bit of space." Makoto's voice was unsure, lacking confidence. Makoto could feel how disheartened Shiroe was.

Nevertheless, that was the last time Makoto had heard from Shiroe.

Makoto had spent a year being a mercenary Bard for various guilds who recruited stray players for large guild raids. He had been with D.D.D., Black Sword Knights, during their legendary raids, though he hadn't gotten anything good out of it, item-wise. He had gotten a reputation as a high-level Herbalist, and was featured in a thread on the forum specifically for Herbalists but that was just that. Role playing subclasses didn't really amount to anything in the game.

Makoto realized however, that Elder Tales actually allowed you to travel outside your country's server. That was where he had struck gold.

It was in the Western European server that Makoto had gotten his first Phantasmal-class item.

The legendary 100-Man Raid [Mountain of Smog] was a Europe-only raid that required traversing a volcano in order to gain access to the dragon's lair, where treasure and loot is jealously guarded by the Weiss Dragon Smog. Makoto had been recruited by the local players since he was a Bard of apt level.

Of course, since international players had a different mindset on how classes play, the party had Makoto do nothing but stand beside the party's tactician (a headstrong Shaman lady) while maintaining his song buffs. Bards were viewed as purely support classes, nothing more, even though Makoto's skill roster boasted of high level offensive attacks.

Since it was the first time anyone had ever accomplished the raid, no one realized that the Phantasmic class item [Desolation of Dragon] had a quirky dropping style: it automatically got inserted into the player with the least amount of hit point damage or recovery dealt during the raid.

Since everyone was busy dealing damage to the raid boss, or healing the wounded allies; Makoto was left with nothing to do but to stand and maintain the songs or change them accordingly depending on what the tactician wanted.

Makoto was surprised when his character's name was announced all across the server, along with the message that he now bore the Phantasmal item of the newly-released dungeon.

He was met with strong opposition however, which terrified Makoto. He had a strong foundation in his English language, and he was sure half of the words thrown his way were either threats to his sexuality, or how his mother did less-than-savory services to other people.

The party leader had even asked him to relinquish the item, but being a Phantasmal-class item, the system prevented discarding or dismantling of the item, much less trading.

After a failure of pacifying the complaining crowd, a GM was summoned to deal with the issue. To Makoto's fortune, the GM had taken his side; saying that it was the way the game worked, and Makoto had gotten it fair and square since there were no exploits, scamming, or third party programs that were involved.

The issue was dropped after some time, but Makoto decided that it will be a long while before he visited the West Europe Server again.

His second Phantasmal item was obtained during a particular dungeon grind in the American servers.

His foreign friends, the one that had taught him English and the one that he taught Japanese to, had invited him to a raid. They had given the reward [Wolf War God Armor] to him after a successful raid in the [Island of Wolf God] dungeon raid. It was a bound-on-pick-up item that was Wolf Fang-use only. Makoto was the only Wolf Fang tribe member in the raid party, and everyone merely shrugged, prompting Makoto to pick it up for himself.

Armed with Phantasm-class items, he had spent levelling his character outside the Japanese server, only finally returning when he had hit the cap for both of his main and sub classes.

His foreign friends made for good, temporary company. They were not the Tea Party, but it was not fair to compare them to the DTP. He had stayed with them during the two years Makoto had as a veterinary student. Once most of the members started losing interest, or had priorities to deal with; Makoto was well past the level 90 cap and used a Transport Gate to return to the City of Akiba.

Makoto, in real life, was now 23 years old. About to graduate.

It was the eve of Elder Tale's latest patch "Homesteading the Noosphere".

* * *

Makoto gets two Phantasmal-class items. (yay) No, it will not make him overpowered. Any lvl 90 player above casual gamestyle owns one Phantasmal item at the very least. Makoto just used his grief to improve his luck. Don't ask me how lol :(

I'll be using 'Noosphere' instead of Novasphere since it makes more sense to me. :o

If you have any questions, suggestions; please don't hesitate to tell me via comment or PM ^^

The story is updated first on archiveofourown in case anyone didn't know.


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